Kundalini Yoga

A lecture given by Paramahamsa Niranjanananda
to Japanese students at Ganga Darshan, 27-12-93

Kundalini represents the direct aim of Yoga. It is an awakening of energy
combined with expansion of consciousness which marks the beginning of
Kundalini Yoga. The whole process of Yoga is directed towards awakening
the dormant potential within the human personality by obtaining discipline
and mastery over oneself. This mastery represents the aspect of control
which the mind can have over matter, and which the spirit can have over
the mind. Therefore, even the most authoritative text, the Yoga Sutras
of Patanjali, begins with a description of Yoga as being a form of discipline:

Anushaasanam has been loosely translated as discipline but in Sanskrit
it has a double meaning. Anu means the subtle structure or atomic principle
of our personality; and shaasanam means to rule or govern.

So, from this point on, Yoga becomes a process which helps the individual
to gain mastery over the most subtle aspects of human expression, like
personality and creativity and the most subtle aspects of our personality
lie in the dimension of energy and consciousness.

The five senses of action and the five senses of perception, the karmendriyas
and the gyanendriyas, represent external manifestations of our nature;
the faculties of mind: manas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara represent the
mental manifestation of our nature, and more subtle still is another dimension
of experience which is composed of a combination of energy and consciousness.
Beyond this is the state of pure wisdom, experiential knowledge, and beyond
this again there is one more final state of super-consciousness, beatitude,
samadhi or nirvana.

These five different states of the human personality have been given
different names: annamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, vigyanamaya
kosha and, finally, anandamaya kosha. The world of the karmendriyas and
gyanendriyas represents the world of annamaya kosha.

The mental dimension, made up of manas, buddhi, chitta, and ahamkara,
represents the world of manomaya kosha. The third dimension which is a
combination of prana and consciousness, and which represents the aspect
of energy in our personality, is known as pranamaya kosha. The realm of
experiential knowledge, when the mind has been able to experience something
and knows it to be true, is known as vigyanamaya kosha. Finally, the state
of beatitude and harmony is the state of anandamaya kosha.

According to the first sutra of Patanjali the process of yogic discipline
applies to all levels. When this discipline is applied in these various
dimensions we gain control over the fluctuations and modifications of
the mind which is explained in the next sutra of Patanjali:

This greater control over the modifications of the mind and the experiences
of our inner dimensions leads to the awakening of a third state which
is known as drastha, the seer or the identity of the spirit as the observer.
When this awareness has been established then the evolution of the human
personality takes place. Kundalini is the outcome of this harmony and
the awakening of the complete human personality.

We will try to understand kundalini starting from the beginning. Universal
energy and universal consciousness exist in universal space. This energy
which is pure and unaltered by the tattwas, yet which is in the process
of manifestation, goes through different changes and attains potency.
Just as we tap hydroelectric power and convert it into electrical energy
by bringing it from one point to the next, stepping down through transformers,
in the same way the energy goes through the different transformers of
Nature. These transformers are known as chakras in the human body, patalas
in the animal body and lokas in the spiritual body.

Universal energy, in the process of change, has gone through these different
levels and is now manifest in the form of matter. Solid matter is formed
by compressed energy and pure energy is the raw form of manifest matter.
So, in reality there is very little gap between matter which is manifesting
as our physical body and universal energy which pervades the cosmos.

The chakras which are connected with the human body are seven in number
and the energy in its manifest form is in mooladhara chakra. As the energy
passed from its pure state, through a transformation it gave birth to
a particular element or tattwa having its own property, guna or nature,
and it was given a name according to its function.

The first change happened in the form of mind which is represented by
ajna chakra. The second alteration gave birth to the element of space
or akash tattwa in vishuddhi chakra. After that, the function of these
different centres was defined as the energy continued its downward journey.
In the process of this downward journey, energy went through changes at
anahata chakra which represents the air element or vayu tattwa. It went
through changes in manipura chakra which represents the fire element or
agni tattwa. Then it continued further down and created the water element
or Jala tattwa, and went further down still and created prithvi tattwa,
solid matter, in swadhisthana and mooladhara chakras respectively. So,
this is the downward movement of energy with the creation of six different
centres of change that is part of the human structure.

Yoga, as well as Tantra, believes that the human body is the best form
of construction or temple ever created in this universe, because in the
edifice of the body we find a beautiful combination of the elements with
its own rivers in the form of nadis, and its own mountains in the form
of chakras. It is a microcosmic representation of the macrocosm, and the
worship of the spirit within the body is considered to be the highest
sadhana or realisation in both Yoga and Tantra.

Kundalini represents the energy which is contained within the quality
or guna of mooladhara chakra. It is visualised by the practitioners in
the form of a dormant serpent having three and a half coils. The symbology
of the three coils represents the three gunas and the half coil represents
its generation point in eternity. This experience of energy which yogis
have called kundalini symbolises Maha prana or Maha Shakti -'The Great
Power' or 'The Serpent Power'.

The awakening of Kundalini represents the reversal of manifestation of
energy back to its transcendental form. The process of manifestation was
from top to bottom, from ajna chakra to mooladhara chakra, from sublime
to gross matter. What is known as evolution is when we again become aware
of the subtle changes within our personality in order to have complete
harmony over the material, mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual aspects
of being.

The process of awakening kundalini is done in three different stages;
first by purifying the nadis, second by awakening the pranas, and third
by awakening the chakras. Nadi is a channel or flow of prana. The word
'nadi' comes from the Sanskrit root nad which means channel or current.
They are the flows of different forms of prana which emanate from each
transformer, from each chakra. Out of these nadis three are important
ida, pingala and shushumna - the lunar force, the solar force and the
integrated force. The lunar channel or ida nadi vitalises the mental dimension,
the solar force or pingala nadi vitalises the physical dimension, and
the shushumna nadi or integrated flow is the link between the individual
and the cosmos.